Piracy Rates in Jordan Drop below the Regional Average – BSA

AMMAN - The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has recently revealed that piracy rates in Jordan have dropped for the first time to below the regional average, according to Al-Rai daily newspaper.
BSA spokesperson for the Middle East region Mr. Ali Harakeh noted that Jordan, for the first time, has witnessed a decline in the software piracy rates since the year 2003 to reach 58% which is less than the regional average.

Mr. Harakeh added that the efforts exerted by the Jordan National Library was the main contributor in raising the awareness of the importance of Intellectual Property Rights in respect to the business sector and educational facilities and played a major role in combating piracy acts.

On the other hand, Microsoft Corporation General Director in Jordan Mr. Zeid Shbeilat stated that the Microsoft’s worldwide policy in fighting piracy focuses on the significance of raising the awareness of the Corporation’s clients and partners of the negative consequences of either distributing or using pirated software programs.

It’s worth mentioning that combating piracy will result in attracting foreign investments to Jordan, creating high-income job opportunities, enhancing the economic and social situation, upgrading the level of business transactions to create a fair competitive environment to provide clients with the best services.

On the other hand, piracy negatively affects the business sector through the loss of data due to the pirated corrupt files in addition to the legal responsibility of non-compliance with Jordan Copyright Law.

A 10% decrease in software piracy within four years will lead to creating additional 436 job opportunities and generating $47 million in profit to local industry sector and $14 million profit from additional taxes for local, regional and federal governments.